Albemarle Hospitality – Take 2

*    Albemarle Loop Week 2    *

3 ports – 78.1 miles   –

A return trip to Edenton, a cruising scare, and moving on to Hertford Town Docks and the Albemarle Planation Marina rounded out our week.

We enjoyed Edenton so much; we went back for one night to break up our voyage to Hertford. We chose the inside of the t-head this time so we would not bang against the dock should the winds kick up. Tasha added to her collection of small art pieces from communities along the loop and purchased a painting of the Roanoke Lighthouse in the Harbor, it should look familiar as we docked by it and took many photos.

We took a long walk out to the old Cotton Mill that abruptly closed overnight in the 1995 leaving many of the town folk jobless and homeless. The Mill was the largest employer in Edenton for nearly 100 years. Preservation North Carolina worked with the town and mill leaders to take on the properties including the mill, homes and other buildings. They have been redeveloped and now private dwellings including over 35 condos in the mill, and more being developed. The condo’s back up to a creek that leads to the Albemarle Sound. Small boats and kayaks can be seen at the launch and docks.

This is one of the most well-preserved intact mill villages in North Carolina. The entire property – consisting of the mill, office, houses (approx. 70, and outbuildings – are all listed on the National Register of Historic places.

The cotton mill was built in 1900 and from 1900 to 1923 they added the 70 houses in the village for the workers and a handful of other buildings. 57 of the 70 original houses remain. There are 40 acres that make up the mill village and a great compliment to Edenton and the history.  After soaking in as much of this neat little town, we returned to the boat for the night. We had a most enjoyable calm night!

The 37.3-mile cruise to Hertford, NC took us 4 hours and should have been uneventful. In the middle of the sound, and we really do mean middle, we heard a loud thump, screeeeech, boom, boom, thump screeeeech, boom, boom as the Now or Never was lifted out of the water. The boat shook, shimmied, and lurched. When lifted out of the water, the boat changed course upon decent. The captain and crew were rattled. It was loud and forceful. The captain throttled down immediately and simultaneously proclaimed Oh, Shit! He moved straight to the engine room to survey any damage and ensure we weren’t taking on water. Tasha went to the aft deck to see if anything popped up from the wake and to get eyes on anything that we could have hit. Nothing. The engine room looked good, no hole in the hull, we slowly put the boat in gear, and motored away. Thankful disaster was averted, and hopeful all was good below the waterline.

The captain is thorough in studying charts for voyages and had following his routed course across the sound. There were indications on the charts of platforms and military towers in this area. The three sources viewed all had different information. The towers had been wiped out in a hurricane years earlier and no further indication was noted. There was one floating marker with no notation to our port side, though it was a couple hundred yards away. The Now or Never may have found them. We were cruising in 14′ feet of water and a slow 8-9 mph. The captain returned to the engine room, still no water, thank goodness, but we are now experiencing a small vibration. A shaft, a prop, we’re not quite sure. Drivable yes, ideal no. There are no yards in the area to pull a boat our size, so we will need to be hauled out once we arrive further north in the Norfolk. It will delay our travels onward, but with nowhere we must be, it will be fine.

The rest of the trip was a bit somber with David beating himself up for the run in with an unseen object. Tasha didn’t let the vibration, or the run-in keep her from falling into the land of nod with the gentle hum of the engines and the slow rocking in the waves. Dave woke Tasha just after going under the Ocean Highway bridge and motoring up to the Perquimans River Swing Bridge with our destination of Hertford just on the other side behind the town hall.

This is a new swing bridge and surround that replaced one built in 1926 and she’s a beauty. They are still hanging signs! We waited while they worked on the sign and the tender returned to the tower to open the bridge. Our dock was a few hundred yards on the other side.

As we were docking, we continued to hear the bells of the bridge clanging, once we were docked, they continued. A good thirty minutes later they finally subsided. When the work boat came back to the dock later, they indicated they could not get the bridge to close and had to call an electrician to assist. Still working out the kinks! Those in cars stopped on the bridge while we transited through were in limbo a good 40 minutes. They certainly aren’t used to that. This is a bridge that only opened for us the two days we were in Hertford. We have heard they go weeks, sometimes months in the winter without opening. Not only is it the swing bridge but the structure is close to a half a mile long, all new.

We motored upriver from the marina in our dinghy and .75 miles beyond the swing bridge is a railroad bridge that clears about 4 feet. We were the only vessel in that mile area that would need a bridge opening. There was no industry, no tourism, nothing that would need a swing bridge except for the handful of pleasure boats like us who come to Hertford for the few docks. The local john boats and bass boats can pass under it with no problem. We are sure it means a lot to the community, but seemed like a big expense. On the other hand, the bridge is part of the history of the community and who knows perhaps some of the industrial sites above the bridge will be repurposed and need the capability.

The following day the bridge guys found their boat dead. Dave gave them a jump with our dinghy, just after pulling away from the dock, they were dead again, so Dave towed them to the launch ramp to await assistance. An hour later they returned with a gift certificate to one of the two open restaurants in town. What a kind gesture, but totally unnecessary. Laughingly they indicated there wasn’t a lot in Herford, and they wouldn’t recommend us driving from Indiana to go to there, but we should enjoy a decent meal there. We did!

We wandered the streets on our bikes, stopped at the pharmacy for $1 ice cream at the old-fashioned fountain, bought fresh produce from the little old man on the corner, had a beer at the Tap House, and had ladies in the neighborhood holler at us “are you the ones on the big boat at the dock?”

We stopped to chat and were welcomed by them and were appreciative of us visiting their town. We learned the little old man selling produce, did so to support his physically challenged adult daughter. Tasha wished we would have bought more! He did talk her into some raw peanuts. Not really knowing what that meant until after we paid for the two bags, he indicated we had to roast them in the oven for an hour or so and they would be difficult to season. A new experience for sure, and they were delicious!

Later that evening, an enthusiastic lady came down the docks with her pups Patton and Bunsen and welcomed us to Hertford. We engaged in a lengthy conversation where she offered to assist us in any way at least a half dozen times. She shared that her pups were rescues and therapy dogs, and we shared stories of Remy.

She returned the next morning with the pups in tow and allowed us to get our second therapy visit. She told us that we had met the mayor the prior day (one who welcomed us to the town on the side street) and we were the talk of the town council meeting. She brought peaches and gifted us a very special book with the title of Dog Heaven. She left Tasha in tears. Her kindness and sharing her special pups couldn’t have come at a better time as it was the day before Remy’s 16^th birthday.

We continue to be reminded how many good people there are in our country and have been rewarded with random acts of kindness too many times to count. This is our America!

From the Hertford town docks, we left going back through that cool swing bridge and calling our new friend on his cell phone. He was about 15 minutes out and got there quickly to open the bridge and waved goodbye.

We back tracked through the military land mine and cruised 24 miles to the Albemarle Plantation Marina as we chose to spend the holiday weekend at a marina, where we would be in the company of other boaters. While located in the middle of nowhere, the plantation boasts a 160-slip marina, two restaurants, pool, golf course, tennis courts, and over 650 homes. We were given a golf cart to transit the property. We will be joining the locals for a big 4^th BBQ, boat parade, and fireworks.

This was our first planned in advance locale and marina in more than two weeks, we ordered from Amazon, and were presented with a load of packages upon arrival. Tasha was excited as the best package came from our dear friends Mary and Dan. She’ll be sporting this cute t-shirt throughout of journey. Thank you, Gardner’s!

During the first hour of our arrival, a half dozen golf carts arrived at our end of the dock to check out the new boat. Like everywhere else on the Albemarle, all have been so welcoming. And like everywhere we’ve been on the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, we have no protection from the wind, and it is windy.

Winds are predicted to ramp up over the Independence Day weekend, we’ll have to see how Tasha handles it. The captain has asked her in the last week or two, are you going to be able to complete this trip? I guess we will just have to see. Today yes, but that could always change.

We spent Remy’s birthday (July 1) traversing the plantation by golf cart – another activity our girl loved. We grilled our evening meal on the back deck and raised a glass to our crew mate, first dog, and our sweet pup, Remy. Happy heavenly birthday girl, wish you were here!

Cheers!  David, Tasha,  

                  & Remy forever in our hearts!

 

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